For as Jonah was
three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man
be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40
(Catholic RSV translation)

The Scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus for a "sign" which
would validate his claim that His authority to teach the people came from God and
that He was indeed the Messiah. In response to their request, Jesus told them:
An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be
given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days
and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:39-40). The
problem with Jesus' statement is that Jesus was in the "heart of the earth" for
three days as the ancients counted (with Friday counting as day #1), but not
three days and three nights from Friday to dawn Sunday morning.(1) Was Jesus speaking literally or was He
speaking symbolically?

In Scripture the number three is one of the so called
"perfect numbers." The other "perfect numbers" are seven, ten, and twelve. In
Scripture the number three signifies completeness or perfection and points to
what is solid, real, and substantial. As a number which indicates completeness,
the number three always identifies some important event in Salvation History.

In the Old Testament:

It is the first of the four so called perfect numbers: 3
(divine perfection), 7 (spiritual perfection), 10 (ordinal perfection),
and 12 (governmental perfection).

The earth was separated from the waters on the 3rd
day.

There are 3 Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob/Israel.

The 3 verses of the Priestly Blessing in which the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, God's holy covenant name, appears 3 times (Numbers
6:24-26).

After the Great Flood mankind descended from the 3
sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

3 "men" announced to Abraham that his barren wife
would bear a son (Genesis 18:14).

Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son after a 3-day
journey to Mt. Moriah (Genesis 22:1-4).

Baby Moses was hidden by his mother for 3 months (Exodus
2:1), and the adult Moses requests of Pharaoh that he let Moses take his
people on a 3 day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to their
God (Exodus 3:18).

Christians saw 3 as symbolic of the Trinity, the triune
nature of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20).

3 is also recognized as the number of the Holy Spirit.

In the symbolic language of the Bible, a three day period
points to an act of divine intervention which impacts Salvation History. Genesis
22:4 records that Abraham's journey to Mt. Moriah to offer his son in
sacrifice, as commanded by Yahweh, was a three day journey. In the Matthew passage
Jesus refers to three days, applying the significance of the three day period
to His resurrection and man's redemption. In the Gospels Jesus often spoke of
a three day period prophesying His sacrifice and resurrection. (2)

Examining other cases in Scripture where three days are
significant in God's plan of salvation is helpful in understanding Jesus'
reference to three days in Matthew 12:40, where He compared His prophesized
"release from the earth" to Jonah's experience of imprisonment and release from
the great fish. For example, in Genesis chapter 22, in the significant event
which the Jews call the Akeidah, the "binding of Isaac," Yahweh tells Abraham
to take his son Isaac to the land of Moriah where he is to offer his son in
sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-4): It happened some time later that God put Abraham
to the test. 'Abraham, Abraham!' he called. 'Here I am,' he replied. God
said, 'Take your son, your only son, your beloved Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, where you are to offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains
which I shall point out to you.' Early the next morning Abraham saddled his
donkey and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He chopped
wood for the burnt offering and started on his journey to the place which Gods
had indicated to him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in
the distance. It is On the third daythat Abraham
arrived and saw the place in the distance. Instead of permitting
the sacrifice of Isaac, God intervenes and commands Abraham to sacrifice a ram
in the place of his son. Isaac is redeemed, and he who was as good as dead was
raised up and restored to his father on the third day. The "three days"
imagery in this event prefigures the sacrifice and resurrection of Isaac's
descendant Jesus the Messiah.

Sometimes this symbolic expression for divine intervention
and restoration after a time of trial is expressed as "on the third day" and at
other times as "after three days." It was after the third day that the
Pharaoh's cupbearer was restored to his former position as Joseph had
prophesized in Genesis 40:12-23. Another reference to restoration on the third
day is found in Hosea 6:1-2 where Yahweh tells His prophet a time will come
when His covenant people will acknowledge their sins and seek redemption and
restoration, as they cry out Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has
torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up. After two
days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we
may live before him.

While the prophetic reference to "the third day" in Joseph's
prophecy in Genesis 40:12-23 may have been literal as well as symbolic, the
prophet Hosea promised a third day restoration that is understood by the Old
Testament faithful to be symbolic of God's plan of salvation and redemption. The
Hosea passage was not concerned with a literal three day period but with a
short period of intense trial followed by God's divine intervention to bring
about the restoration of God's people in God's own time. Jesus' reference to
the three days and three nights in Matthew 12:40 is a reference in biblical
language to the promise of divine intervention in God's plan of salvation,
linking Jonah's mission to the lost souls of Nineveh and Jesus' mission to the
lost sheep of Israel.

Saint Paul wrote about the significant "third day" event of
the Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, and the witnesses who testified to
it. Paul testified that the timing of the resurrection event was not according
to man's time but "according to the Scriptures": For I delivered to you as
of first importance which I also received, that Christ died for our sins and in
accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, then he was raised on
the third dayin accordance with the scriptures, and that he
appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five
hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have
fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of
all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. When Paul writes
that the "timing" of the event of the Resurrection was "in accordance with the
Scriptures," it is the Old Testament Scriptures to which he is referring. Paul
also makes the symbolic "third day" reference in the language of the Scriptures,
linking it to God's intervention at the climactic moment of man's promised
restoration of fellowship with God as promised to the Prophet Hosea in Hosea
6:1-2. It is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ which occurred, as Paul writes,
"on the third day," an event which occurred literally but at the same time was
full of symbolic significance, and through which all who believe will also be
raised up to eternal life.

Footnotes:

When
referring to His three days in the grave in the literal sense, Jesus is
counting as the ancients counted without the concept of a zero-place value,
with Friday being day #1, Saturday day #2, and Sunday day #3.